Locke & Key: A Roundabout Review

This is the end. I might not have started at the beginning but I started to follow after the third hardcover came out. Joe Hill started off with "Welcome to LoveCraft" and followed with "Headgames" and "Crown of Shadows" just finished. Free comic book day introduced me to the series and then "Keys to the Kingdom" came out. At first I thought I would wait for the next hardcover to come out, the thing is I couldn't. I needed to know what happened to the Locke children.

I continued with each new issue that came out. "Clockworks" became the first issue I purchased graded. The 9.9 signature series copy was the first one of its kind. Others have surfaced. I did eventually sell that copy. It now resides out in Seattle. The series ended with a beautiful cliff hanger and I had to wait yet again for the next limited series.

"Omega" arrived earlier this year and will end this year. This time it will be over. I am very much against constant relaunches. I would much rather have issues in the high hundreds for titles that originally started in the golden age through to today. But, I can withstand numerous number ones when it comes to a limited series. Dark Horse has been great at that for years, but IDW has proven itself among the greats and it was Locke and Key.

After reading Issue #4 as my last ComicBook for my weekly haul not only did I thoroughly enjoy it but I also felt a tinge of sadness. This great series is ending. Do yourself a favor and check it out. Read the trades and then anxiously wait for the end. I don't think I can do it alone.

Thanks for Reading

Reading Books Last: A Roundabout Review

My reviews have been mostly about Marvel, it might be because I am biased on the company that helped ease me into collecting comic books the same way my sister taught me how to swim. They pulled me into the water and then when I was comfortable, let go. My sister of course would grab hold of me again, it never occurred to me she could have drown in the pool as well as I could, if not easier, she had no water wings on her arms to hold her afloat, I did. Marvel would do the same by introducing characters in various comics and then put them in an explosive environment that would have me riveted and waiting for the next month so I could find out what happened in the very next issue, this time I had no water wings, I was at the dreaded mercy of the writer.

As my weekly allotment grew and grew I would set aside my favorites to read last. It’s almost 30 years later and I still do the same thing. I remember reading in a “forward” from a trade paperback that they too saved the favorite for last until they were older. Now, as they are older, much like I am, they read their favorites first because they don’t have time for the crap. I might partially agree, but there has to be something last, there has to be something to make you wish it was the following month already and the latest issues of comic books are in your hands begging to be read. Which, once again, is why I read my favorites last, once in a while there are a few. This week I have to compete with Marvel’s Daredevil by Mark Waid and IDW’s Locke & Key by Joe Hill, not to mention DC’s Justice League by Geoff Johns.

Nine books made their way home from me from Jack’s Comic Crypt in Center City Philadelphia, Nine bags and boards accompanied them as I took the first one out on the elevated train. It wasn’t the worst but I started to read Justice League of America #1. It was new and also by Geoff Johns. By the end, I am willing to give #2 a try. I normally will read a second comic before I get to my stop, but today I was tired from working a night shift and wanted to be as alert as possible to enjoy the rest of my haul. Once home I thought I would sleep but both Harbinger and X-O Manowar begged to be read. I obliged. This company continues to impress.  My Fourth book for the week was Justice League, the conclusion to “Throne of Atlantis”. This book has been my last to read from time to time, and this book is good, so why do I still have five more to go.

Avenger’s #5 by Jonathon Hickman has me on the fence. It could be great, rather than just good. The last four I have yet to read. Of the remaining four, three are from Marvel and one is from IDW. Dan Slott’s Superior Spider-Man is, well, Superior. Joe Hill’s Locke & Key is coming to a close and Indestructible Hulk by Mark Waid is my surprise hit of the year competing against Daredevil, also by Mark Waid. So Instead of deciding what to read next I finally slept and woke up refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to read… to read, well to read the next book, whatever comic book that is.

 Thanks for Reading

What about the Doctor?

What about the Doctor

On Wednesdays I buy comic book and on Saturday’s I miss the Doctor.  Every Saturday night Doctor who plays on the BBC. I was introduced to this sci-fi show when I was just a kid. My sister’s best friend told me about t Doctor and I was introduced to him first by the show, then by books, my first Doctor? Tom Baker. I followed him on the NJN which didn’t always have good reception and if I was really lucky I would find him on PBS but one of my most memorable moments of a memory I don’t fully remember was when my Father found me in the library and I lost track of time. Apparently even reading about the Doctor and the TARDIS I was transported through a full day at the library without realizing anything but pages were moving from one side of the book to the other.

I work overnights which is only one of the reasons why I miss the show on Saturdays, the other is I really don’t feel like paying for cable when I would only watch a couple of shows. These shows I would download of I-Tunes to own anyway. Case in point, I am downloading the latest Doctor Who show, I started this Sunday afternoon and my internet is just getting worse. I called my provider and I am still waiting for some resolve. Then a decision might have to be made. I mainly picked the wireless aspect because I wanted to use it on my lap top, but now I have a touch screen desk top, what do I need that for.

As much as I enjoy the television show and have only read the books in the past I don’t see why I don’t pick up a current novelization or even a comic book by IDW, after all I do enjoy Locke & Key as well as the Cape. I never realized how dependant I have become on technology whether it is through my computer or smart phone. The thing is, without these two items I would not be collecting the way I have been collecting nor have the best set of my favorite series with only a few more to complete them. I guess since I have an hour left to download this show, a download that should have taken no more than five minutes I will take a nap when it is finished, or maybe take a nap while it finishes and maybe six hours from now it will be done. As I mentioned I only had an hour left on the timer but this is the third day.